


it's the most wonderful time of the year

by deanwantspie



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas, Christmas with the Avengers, Domestic Avengers, F/M, M/M, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, friendship buckynat, literally just fluff, russian bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-16 00:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2248401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deanwantspie/pseuds/deanwantspie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky joins the Avengers at the tower to celebrate Christmas, and for once he actually leaves his room, even if it is only to play the neglected piano that Stark has never used.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's the most wonderful time of the year

Steve wakes up to the sound of classical music coming from Tony’s piano, and sits upright slowly, taking a moment to listen to it before getting up quietly, not to disturb the mystery player, and then pads over to the source of the sound.

When he gets there, he sees Natasha and Bucky bent over the piano, which is placed between the fireplace and the Christmas tree, sharing a damn stool, playing a duet without any words being said between them. Bucky’s surprisingly good – he’d never played before, and his arm should make it difficult for him, but he looks like he’s been playing his whole life. Natasha’s just as good and they certainly play well, Bucky more vicious with his style and Natasha gentle, but sounding perfect together anyway.

He hears someone trying to be equally as quiet behind him, and Clint joins him to loiter in the doorway and watch. They don’t say anything for a minute, and soon enough the duet finishes. There’s a moment of words exchanged in Russian before they start another piece.

“Where did Natasha learn to play?” Steve whispers to Clint, not taking his eyes off Bucky. Clint – who’s only wearing some old sweatpants and must be freezing – replies almost silently as the music reaches a crescendo. “Hungary, I think, or Romania. She had time between two missions.”

“She doesn’t really seem like the classical music type,” Steve says, glancing at her AC/DC band tee (which, actually, turns out to be Clint’s).

Clint nods and points his chin toward Bucky. “He doesn’t seem like it’s his kinda thing, either,” and looks back over to Steve. “You didn’t know he could play, right?”

“No,” Steve answers, suppressing a chuckle. “His parents tried to teach him once. He hated it.” But it doesn’t make him any happier, knowing that. It’s just another way of seeing how HYDRA has changed him. And although, in the grand scheme of things, being able to play Beethoven and Mozart isn’t so bad, it just made him less _Bucky_.

“At least he’s left his room now. Tony was gonna send JARVIS in there.” Clint says reassuringly. Bucky hadn’t left his room except to eat, even when they put up the tree (Steve thought he’d never see something so strange – Tony tried to get his robot to do it for him, and Thor refused to take part, because it was too ‘Pagan’. But after the tree was finished, he’d warmed up to it and wasn’t so against the idea.) He barely spoke, and Steve didn’t know him enough anymore.

They stay silent after that, and watch in the doorway until Natasha leaves to get some coffee, and Bucky sits for a while, looking slightly lost, and then goes back to bed. He doesn’t come out for the rest of the day, not even when Steve leaves a sandwich outside his door.

**

The piano-playing becomes a daily thing after that. Some days Steve watches in the background, and some days he just lies in bed and goes back to sleep. All of the Avengers begin to notice and talk about it (except Thor, who is too much of a heavy sleeper) in hushed tones, like it’s some kind of bad thing. Even Tony says that they play well, and that Pepper’s glad that the piano’s finally being used.

Clint and Natasha leave for a mission in Luxemburg two weeks before Christmas, and Bucky plays alone, but it’s hard to tell because he’s so good. He starts to play Christmas songs, and leaves his room more, and actually spends time in the living room with everyone else, even if he doesn’t say a word.

**

The Avengers tower becomes more alive and festive, decorations going up (much to Stark’s chagrin – the tree was a compromise, and he tried to put his foot down when Coulson suggested paper chains, but Pepper told him to ‘stop being a grinch’. Steve didn’t know what that meant.), and every room begins to smell of spices, because Bruce keeps baking gingerbread men and cinnamon cookies. Bucky comes out most days, drinks hot chocolate, helps with the decorations, and even goes into the city one day to get presents. He’s still quiet, but he’s getting better, and Steve’s spirits rise. Christmas in the 21st century is definitely different from the 40s, but he can adjust.

Natasha and Clint come back within four days, and Natasha’s wearing a small ring on her left ring finger, but no-one says anything to their faces. “There wasn’t even a mission, was there? Banner, you know that, right? Steve?” Tony asks over some eggnog late one night, after the two have gone to bed (‘in the same room’, Tony adds).

“Mind your own damn business,” Clint says, walking in the room and smirking “Or I’ll tear JARVIS apart.” Tony shuts up about the secret wedding after that.

One morning, three days before Christmas, Bucky’s playing the piano alone, and he notices Steve hovering in the doorway. Not one to run away from anything, Steve wanders over and Bucky shuffles over on the stool so they can both sit. They don’t say much, and Steve has to try and find a way to break the ice, because they’ve barely spoken in the four months that Bucky’s been at the tower. He points to a random key. “This is B, right?”

Bucky shakes his head, and points to another key. “This is B.”

“Right. At least your mom taught you that much,” he says, and Bucky laughs a little. It was like he was coming back.

**

After that, Bucky teaches Steve how to play the piano, and by Christmas Eve, he can play a very basic “Good King Wenceslas”, and Bucky watches from the end of the grand, sitting on top of it (Pepper grimaced when he pulled himself up on top of it), tying back his long hair into a ponytail and smiling around his mug of hot chocolate, which Natasha had added some vodka to. They often spoke to each other in Russian and laughed about jokes that no-one else could understand. Everyone’s presents lay under the tree, and Pepper has neatly sorted them into piles according to person (Fury’s is the smallest pile, with just one present that they all pitched in together to get). Clint’s sat on the sofa with Natasha’s head in his lap, playing with her hair as she begins to fall asleep. Soon enough, everyone disperses, even though it’s only 11 pm. Steve and Bucky stay up, playing the piano together, until the clock hits midnight and Steve stops. “Happy Christmas, Buck.”

“Merry Christmas, Steve,” he replies quietly, almost whispering. Christmas was hard. Winter in general had been hard. It was winter when he lost Bucky. But now it was winter again, and he got him back. That was a damn good Christmas present. One of the best.

“I got you something early,” Steve says, reaching into his pocket, and giving Bucky the small, wrapped package. He opens it slowly and reveals the military dog tag, with his name on it. His one from the war. Steve had asked Fury about it and had found it in Bucky’s file.

He puts it on slowly, clasping it in his metal arm before looking up. “Steve…”

“Don’t mention it, Buck. It’s yours – it always was. I’m just giving it back to you.” Bucky smiles up at Steve and, without hesitation, pushes his lips to his.

Steve’s surprised as hell, but doesn’t object. In fact, if anything, he’s the one that pushes back on Bucky’s lips with his own.

They stay there for what seems like hours before Bucky pulls away and pushes his forehead against Steve’s. “We should get some rest.”

“Yeah, okay,” Steve gets up slowly and heads towards his room.

“Steve,” Bucky says, and Steve turns around. “Where are you going, punk? Bedroom’s this way.” He’s pulled by his arm to Bucky’s room, where they spend the rest of the night, even if they don’t sleep for much of it.

**

They wake up later than everyone else Christmas morning, to the sound of Natasha playing a tune on the piano and Tony asking JARVIS why Steve’s still asleep. They leave together, Steve in a shirt and boxers, Bucky in a sweater and some pants, and, for once, no-one comments on it. At all.

Christmas passes quickly at parts but slowly at others. Steve shows Bruce how to spice the turkey like his grandma used to, and Bucky plays some Christmas songs with Natasha on the piano again. Tony whines about opening his presents. When the star falls off the tree, Bruce has to lift Coulson up on his shoulders so they can get it back on, and they nearly fall on Tony’s expensive coffee table. Thor consumes a copious amount of beer and stays sober, and even Fury makes an arrival when Steve calls him and says it’s time for presents. He doesn’t seem surprised that he’s only got one, which turns out to be a candy-cane striped eye-patch. “Humour me,” Stark says, and shockingly, he does. He wears the patch for the rest of the day (Bruce explains that he probably put it in the bin as soon as he left the building). 

Thor gets everyone Christmas sweaters because he saw them in the shop window and said that he thought they would all stay warm. Bucky reluctantly changes into his and laughs when Steve puts his snowman one on. It even has a 3D carrot nose.

Clint gets everyone expensive Eastern European coffee and a small flask of whiskey each, but he gets Natasha a charm bracelet with an arrow on it. In return, she gives him a thin golden chain with a small spider charm on it. She gets Bruce some recipe books (apparently, he loves to bake), Bucky gets some sheet music, Steve gets a stack of films and CDs that he _must_ use soon, Tony receives a piece of artwork that she found in Luxemburg (featuring himself), which he’s very happy with. Thor is thrilled to get a book on Norse legends, because he’s been desperate to find out what humans think of him.

Pepper gets everyone watches, so they can all be on time, because, according to her, “everyone’s always late”. Tony reminds her that she’s just always early, and explains that he chipped in with the design. They’re slightly personalized to everyone’s preferences – Steve’s is classically 30s styled, Bruce’s and Clint’s are scientific and confusing, Thor’s looks like a sundial because Tony ‘doesn’t know how Asgardians tell the time’. Bucky’s and Natasha’s are more discreet and can be used to text people’s phones on.

When it comes round to opening Steve’s presents, everyone’s tired out and Bruce says that the turkey is cooked. So they decide to eat, then come back to gifts.

Natasha makes everyone pull crackers, exclaiming that it’s ‘traditional’. Thor completely crushes his, but salvages the party hat, and they all put them on (Bucky’s keeps slipping off his head, so Steve has to straighten it out every so often.). They read the lame jokes that no-one actually finds funny (except Thor, whose laughter is so loud that everyone joins in) and they eat until they’re stuffed. Steve wonders how many Christmases Bucky’s spent killing people, and how many he remembers properly. Bucky holds his hand under the table, and Steve decides that it doesn’t matter because he’s here, and he’s okay, and he’s still Bucky, even if he can play the piano and speaks Russian now. He’s wearing the dog tag around his neck and he’s sipping champagne. He’s happy, and so Steve’s happy.

Although a feeling of lethargy follows dinner, they open the rest of the presents. Steve gets Thor a book on the 21st century, which Tony helped pick out, because Thor has no clue _at all_ about humans and modern technology, and once tried to put cassette tapes in the toaster, because he’d assumed that’s what the machine was for. He gets Pepper and Natasha a pair of earrings each, which they both seem happy with. Bruce gets a book on science which is a foreign language to Steve, but Bruce raises his eyebrows and says that it will be really useful when he’s studying thermo-technology. He gives Tony and Clint alcohol because he has no clue what else to get them. Lastly, he gives Bucky a huge pile of _Captain America and the Howling Commandos_ comic books that he’s collected over the years, to see if it helps him remember anything. Bucky gives him a long hug, and truth be told, Steve thinks he might cry – he keeps sniffing. Bucky laughs at him for being such a girl.

When it comes to Bucky, he’s quiet and almost shy as he hands out his presents. He gets Nat some Russian books that must hold some sort of joke, because she laughs loudly when she opens them and quotes something to him in Russian. Clint and Steve exchange quizzical looks but say nothing. He gets Pepper a silver bracelet; he gives Thor some more coffee and beer; Clint gets a new quiver for his arrows (Steve doesn’t ask where Bucky found it). He gives Bruce a book too – _The Guide to Electro-Mechanics_. Apparently, Bruce has been running tests on his metal arm but doesn’t know really know much about it.

Steve really does cry when Bucky gives him an old photo of them together, when you could count Steve’s ribs and Bucky didn’t even think of signing up for any war. They’ve got their arms draped lazily over each other and they’re both grinning so much that they look crazy. It’s black and white, and even though it’s in a frame, you can see the little tears and rips around the edges.

Nothing is said for a minute, between anyone, until Tony whacks Bucky on the arm. “You’re the first one to make Captain America cry, y’know. That’s a big deal.”

**

Christmas ends on a slightly tipsy note for Tony and Clint.

Tony turns out to be a complete lightweight, but he blames it on the champagne they had earlier. Pepper forces coffee down their throats until they’re slightly sober, because she ‘wants them to actually remember Christmas this year.’ Natasha falls asleep again, her head on Clint’s shoulder, and he dozes off not long after.

Thor and Bruce sit in the corner, not talking but reading their new books, Thor laughing occasionally at some ‘Midgardian belief’ that’s completely wrong. Tony falls asleep too, and Pepper lets him lie on the couch. Steve and Bucky lean against the wall, alone for a minute, Bucky holding onto the dog tag and Steve still wearing his Christmas sweater, even though everyone else took theirs off hours ago. He produces a small bit of mistletoe from his pocket and holds it over the top of Bucky’s head.

“You’re such a dork,” he says, before leaning in and kissing Steve wholeheartedly, wrapping his metal arm around Steve’s waist. “Happy Christmas, Steve.”

“Merry Christmas, Buck.”


End file.
